Resilient hub.



nurnnnronn B. LONGENECKER, or Barron,- onio.

RESIIiIENT HUB.

Specificationof Letters Patent. Patentd Sept. 7, 1915.

Application filed July 2'7, 1914. Serial No. 853,528.

' To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, RUTHERFORD B. LONG- ENEOKER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State ofOhio, have invented acertain new and useful Resilient Hub; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which like letters refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a resilient hub or shockabsorber to take the place of the pneumatic tire for taking up shocks.

The hub is composed of a large casing about which the wheel races onball bearings and having an eccentric spindle attached freely to the hubupon which the weight of the machine or car rests. This spindle has agear meshing with a set of gears held inside the housing of the hubwhich in turn mesh with two other gears, one attached to a casing andthe other attached to a rod passing through the casing and a spiralspring is passed around the casing, one end attached thereto and theother end secured to the end of the rod. Thus the thrust of a shock onthe wheel will turn the primary gear slightly which will turn the entireset of gears, the gear attached to the casing in one direction and thegear attached to the rod in the opposite direction, thereby winding upthe spring and taking up the shock.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims. In thedrawings, Figure 1 is a vertical cross section through the center of ahub. Fig. 2 is a cross section taken longitudinally of the hub on theline 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3

is a modified form of the device. Fig. 4: is a longitudinal crosssection through the lower half of the modified form of the hub. Fig.

5 is a cross section on'the line 55 of Fig. 3.

There is a hub casing or housing 10 about which the wheel 11 races onball bearings 12. Eccentrically disposed in said housing 10 so as tooscillate therein, there is a spindle 13 with a gear 14: made integralthereon.

There is a steering knuckle 15 resting on the spindle 13 and .to whichthe front axle 16 of the car is attached. Meshing with the gear 1A thereis a gear 17 with a reduced portion 18 keyed to a shaft 19 whichrevolves in the housing 10. Meshing with the reduced portion 18 of thegear 17 there is i through the entire length of the casing 23 so as tooscillate therein and is attached rigidly to a nut 26. There is a spiralspring.

27, one end of which is attached to. the flange 26 at 28, and the otherend of which is rigidly attached to the casing 23 at 29. When the wheelstrikes a bump, the thrust of the shock will at once oscillate the gear17, since the gear 14: is rigidly attached to the spindle about whichthe hub oscillates. This oscillation of the gear 17 with relation to thespindle sets in motion the gears mesh ing therewith and increasesthe-oscillation by means of said gears until the movement is transmittedto the gears 22 and 2A which oscillate in opposite directions by meansof the idler or gear 20 and oscillate in turn the casing 23 and the rod25 respectively in opposite directions which winds up the spring 27 andabsorbs the shock.

A modified form of this device is shown in Figs. 3, l-and 5. Instead ofthe casing 23 and rod 25 extending longitudinally at right angles to thehousing, two rods 123 and 125 are bent down at right angles and turnedaway from each other at substantially right angles, as shown in Fig. 3.Joining the rods 123 and 125 at their ends are two arc-shaped rods 30and 31 telescoping within each other. A spiralspring 32 surrounds saidrods, one end of which is attached to the end of the rod 30 and theother to the end of the rod 31. By this means the arc is permitted toyieldingly contract, and the spring 32 absorbsany shock which isproduced by the wheel going over a bump,

through the medium of the gears 22 and 24. v

The invention claimed is:-

1. A wheel hub, an eccentrically disposed spindle therein, a springmember, and a set of gears connected to said spindle for actuating saidspring member.

2. A wheel hub, an eccentrically disposed spindle therein, a springmember, and a gear attached to said spindle adapted to mesh with a setof gears for actuating said spring member.

3. A wheel hub, an eccentrically disposed spindle therein, gearsconnected to said spindle, a spring member, and means for connecting oneend of said spring member to a gear revolving in one direction and theother end of said spring member to a gear revolving in the oppositedirection.

a. A wheel hub, an eccentrically disposed spindle therein, two rods onewithin the other and attached to two gears respectively, oscillating inopposite directions and meshing with a set of gears in connection withsaid spindle, the outer portions of said rods turned at right angles andaway from each other, and a spring attachment between the ends of saidrods.

5. A wheel hub, an eccentrically disposed spindle therein, two rods onewithin the other and attached to two gears respectively, oscillating inopposite directions and meshing with a set of gears in connection withsaid spindle, the outer portions of said rods turned at right angles andaway from each other, two are shaped members telescoped between the endsof said rods, and a spiral spring surrounding said are shaped memberswith each end attached re spectively to each are shaped member.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto aflixed my signature in the presenceof the witnesses herein named.

RUTHERFORD B. LONGENE CKER.

iVitnesses Jnssn CUMINGS, CARL W. HOSKET.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

